Anomalisa 2015

     Michael stone is a self-help book author and he travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to give a speech to promote his book.  His book is about customer service.  Michael practices his speech in his hotel room and he has notes to follow during the presentation.  Despite his preparation, Michael seems to stumble, mumble and undermine his credibility during his speech.  He somewhat stays on topic but rambling enters into his pauses.   

     There seems to be more reality to this film because of the subject and the animated characters.  This is an adult film and Michael has a LOT of problems!!  He seems to be suffering from despair and could be having a mid-life crises?  He specializes in customer service but he’s unable to deeply interact with other people?  He feels his own life is too repetitive but he has a lack of interest?  He has low sensitivity to excitement.  He smokes too much and he drinks too much.  If he’s not on an expense account, he also spends freely?  He contacts a female friend he hasn’t seen in a long time.  They meet at a bar but that ends badly.  How could it not if he can’t interact with another person?  It seems strange for all the other characters to be voiced by Tom Noonan including the women but this becomes understandable because of how Michael sees people.

90 min, Animation directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman with the voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 91% critic 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Amazon 2.9* out of 5* with 464 reviews, The Guardian 5* review by Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 88 out of 100 with 46 critics 7.5 out of 10 with 250 reviews, EmpireOnline 5*.

Special Note:  Kickstarter.com crowd-funded this film.  Charlie Kaufman was screenwriter and executive producer on Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  The name of the hotel where Michael stays is the Fregoli.  The definition of this word is delusion of doubles.  This word offers the explanation of why all other characters are voiced by Tom Noonan.  It’s a rare disorder causing a person to have a delusional belief that different people are actually a single person.  This person changes their appearance or is in disguise to only look different but is remains the same person.  Someone with the disorder believes the person they continually see is persecuting them?  Aboulomania is also a condition affecting the ability to function socially.  This is the first R-rated animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.  Duke Johnson is the co-director and he said one scene required six months to animate!!  The character Michael is in every scene except for the last one.